"As president of the coaches association, I view the recent ESPN article as a disgrace, quite honestly," Carlisle said before Sunday's game against the New York Knicks. "Luke Walton is a terrific, young coach who is bringing along a young team, and it's a difficult task. If you don't believe it, just ask me. We're going through that now and went through that last year."

Carlisle, who worked as an ESPN analyst while between coaching jobs during the 2007-08 season, referred to ESPN as a partner of the league and mentioned that coaches grant the network access and interviews because of that partnership.

"In exchange for that, they should back up the coaches," Carlisle said. "Printing an article where the father of an NBA player has an opinion that is printed as anything like legitimate erodes trust. It erodes the trust that we've built with ESPN, and our coaches are upset because Luke Walton does not deserve that.

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"Two years ago, he took a veteran team and led them to 24 wins in a row, which is an amazing accomplishment. Off of that, he earned the Laker job. To have to deal with these kinds of ignorant distractions is deplorable."

Carlisle was asked if he were suggesting that ESPN should determine what news to publish based on what coaches will like.

"I'm saying that they should look at their sources and do a better job of determining whether they have any merit or any validity. Or are they just blowhard loudmouths?" Carlisle said. "That's what I'm saying. You got that?"

The NBA Coaches Association released a statement late Sunday stating: "The article attacked Coach Walton on the basis of one person's unsubstantiated opinion. The story failed to provide quotes or perspectives from any players, or from Lakers management, either named or unnamed, verifying the claims made in the story."

Walton said that some coaches reached out to him on Sunday, voicing support for him after seeing LaVar Ball's comments.

"They are all on the same idea that it is our job as coaches to coach our teams and not be concerned about parents and what other people outside of the organization think," Walton said in Los Angeles before playing the Hawks. "A lot of them have shown their support as far as they know what it is like to coach young teams and from what they see, how hard our group plays. And they really, just like I do, they really like our young team and the way that we compete."